After another wonderful sleep (it’s two in a row now for me), we woke up to a beautiful sunny day (again) and it was a little warmer this morning than it was yesterday. The forecast was calling for high’s of 23C making it an ideal day for a motorcycle adventure so after breakfast we suited up and hit the road.

Our adventure took us east on Interstate 10 to the Joshua Tree National Park which we visited once before in March of this year. This time we were entering the park from a different direction and via a different route making our return seem like a first-time visit. Coming here in the fall also brings a different perspective because unlike the spring there were no flowers on the Joshua trees. Everytime we drive into an area with such a beautiful terrain, we wonder what the first explorers, be they native Indians or white settlers, must have felt seeing this for the first time. Were they awed as much as we are?

We were saddened by the presence of air pollution from LA which was visibly evident because it blanketed the park for as far as the eye could see. We could see it in the Coachella Valley before we left there but it surprised us to see that it had travelled so far east as well. I have to wonder what it will take for the human race to finally realize what we are doing to our world and how far gone will nature have to go before we stop?

From Joshua Tree National Park we travelled north to Twenty-Nine Palms and then rode west along Highway 62 back towards Palm Springs. Even though it wasn’t quite 3:00PM, the sun was slowly beginning to go down and the chill in the air was evident. Fortunately we put on some layers and our chaps when we stopped for lunch so the ride back was perfect, a great ending to a beautiful day!